The Labor Party is to decide which MKs will man the ministerial positions promised it by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. At the same time, PA municipalities are choosing mayors and municipal authorities from among candidates that include many Hamas members.
It was not certain until the last moment that the Labor elections would be held today. The polls opened only after Labor Party activist Danny Cohen withdrew his petition to the Supreme Court demanding a postponement of the elections. Sixteen Labor candidates are vying for seven positions offered their party in the upcoming Likud/Labor coalition government. The polls, open to members of the Labor Party Central Committee, opened at 11 AM at the Exhibition Grounds in Tel Aviv and will close at 8 PM; the results are expected to be known at 10 PM
The electoral system for today's vote is as follows: The nearly 2,000 members of the party's Central Committee will each vote for five of the 13 politicians running for a ministerial position, and two of the four vying for a deputy-minister post. The one who receives the most votes will have first choice of the ministry of his choice, and so on down the line. Party Chairman Shimon Peres will not be subject to the whims of the electorate and is guaranteed the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, pending changes in Israel's Basic Law stipulating government protocol.
The ministerial candidates are MKs Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Matan Vilnai, Ephraim Sneh, Yuli Tamir, Chaim Ramon, Avraham Beige Shochat, Dalia Itzik, Yitzchak Herzog, Danny Yatom, Ophir Pines-Paz, Shalom Simchon, Amram Mitzna, and non-MK Yechiel Gutman. Running for the positions of deputy ministers are MKs Colette Avita, Eli Ben-Menachem, Orit Noked and Ghaleb Majadla.
Only two Labor MKs are not running for office: Rabbi Michael Melchior and Eitan Cabel.
The ministries to be staffed by Labor, according to the coalition negotiation agreements reached with the Likud, are Interior, Housing, National Infrastructures, Environment, and Communications, as well as two ministers-without-portfolio, including one in the Prime Minister's Office.
The PA municipal elections, also taking place today, will determine the mayors and council members in 26 out of 326 Arab municipal authorities under the administrative control of the PA throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Hamas candidates are running for many of the positions, and the terror group is favored to win big in several townships.
Haaretz reports that the candidacies of female candidates in the municipal elections has been controversial within PA society. Many of them have been forced to withdraw their candidacy, and a blanket ban has been placed on photos of women running for office.
The IDF has withdrawn from many PA-controlled areas, and has authorized the carrying of weapons by PA forces prior to the municipal elections. Right-wing voices criticized the move as repeating the Oslo mistakes of allowing PA "security forces" to be armed.
It was not certain until the last moment that the Labor elections would be held today. The polls opened only after Labor Party activist Danny Cohen withdrew his petition to the Supreme Court demanding a postponement of the elections. Sixteen Labor candidates are vying for seven positions offered their party in the upcoming Likud/Labor coalition government. The polls, open to members of the Labor Party Central Committee, opened at 11 AM at the Exhibition Grounds in Tel Aviv and will close at 8 PM; the results are expected to be known at 10 PM
The electoral system for today's vote is as follows: The nearly 2,000 members of the party's Central Committee will each vote for five of the 13 politicians running for a ministerial position, and two of the four vying for a deputy-minister post. The one who receives the most votes will have first choice of the ministry of his choice, and so on down the line. Party Chairman Shimon Peres will not be subject to the whims of the electorate and is guaranteed the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, pending changes in Israel's Basic Law stipulating government protocol.
The ministerial candidates are MKs Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Matan Vilnai, Ephraim Sneh, Yuli Tamir, Chaim Ramon, Avraham Beige Shochat, Dalia Itzik, Yitzchak Herzog, Danny Yatom, Ophir Pines-Paz, Shalom Simchon, Amram Mitzna, and non-MK Yechiel Gutman. Running for the positions of deputy ministers are MKs Colette Avita, Eli Ben-Menachem, Orit Noked and Ghaleb Majadla.
Only two Labor MKs are not running for office: Rabbi Michael Melchior and Eitan Cabel.
The ministries to be staffed by Labor, according to the coalition negotiation agreements reached with the Likud, are Interior, Housing, National Infrastructures, Environment, and Communications, as well as two ministers-without-portfolio, including one in the Prime Minister's Office.
The PA municipal elections, also taking place today, will determine the mayors and council members in 26 out of 326 Arab municipal authorities under the administrative control of the PA throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Hamas candidates are running for many of the positions, and the terror group is favored to win big in several townships.
Haaretz reports that the candidacies of female candidates in the municipal elections has been controversial within PA society. Many of them have been forced to withdraw their candidacy, and a blanket ban has been placed on photos of women running for office.
The IDF has withdrawn from many PA-controlled areas, and has authorized the carrying of weapons by PA forces prior to the municipal elections. Right-wing voices criticized the move as repeating the Oslo mistakes of allowing PA "security forces" to be armed.